Fifth Wheel RVs
Fifth Wheel Camping Trailers
A fifth wheel trailer is a camper that is designed to be towed using a special hitch mounted in the bed of a pickup truck. In this arrangement, the trailer is attached over the truck’s rear axle and wheels, which then supports a significant portion of the trailer’s weight.
The phrase fifth wheel refers to the connection of the trailer to the hitch in the bed of the truck. The phrase originally referred to a turntable device that allowed the front axle of horse-drawn wagons and carriages to pivot with the animals as a turn was made. With the advent of steam, electric and gasoline engines, the fifth wheel was modified in some applications to allow connection of these wagons and carriages over the rear axle of a motorized tractor. This modified fifth wheel evolved into the hitch systems used today with fifth wheel RV campers and semi-tractor trailers.
A 5th wheel is used to “join” the pick-up and the trailer into one unit, when connected. It consists of two flat horizontal metal plates, one lower plate mounted in the bed of the truck and one on the camper. The plate on the camper also has a large vertical pin called a
king pin, which slides into a slot on the lower plate, and is locked into place by the 5th wheel hitch jaws. The hitch, when connected, forms a flexible coupling that permits both rotational and vertical movement between the pickup truck and camper.
Fifth wheel trailers are available from entry level campers for occasional camping though luxury recreational vehicles suited for long term or full time RVing. Sizes range from the 19 foot Scamp 5th Wheel to over 40 feet.
While most fifth wheel campers require a heavy duty pickup, or larger, as a tow vehicle, there are a few light fifth wheels that can be towed by a light duty pickup truck. It is very important that the tow ratings of the truck exceed the fully loaded weight of the camper. Some recommend that the tow vehicle be rated for ten to twenty percent more that the camper’s fully loaded weight.
An early motorized fifth wheel application
Vehicle steering methods
Fifth wheel RV manufacturers with listings of current models:
Adventure Manufacturing – Chisholm Trail; RPM (toy hauler); Timberlodge Express
Ameri-Camp – models: Summit Ridge; Summit Ridge Reserve; Trail Boss; Wrangler
Americana – factory ordered models: GS, LC
Carriage Inc. – models: Cameo; Carri-Lite; Domani; Royals
Carson Trailer, Inc – models (toy haulers): Carrera Lite; Fun-Runner; Titan
Coachmen RVs – models: Chaparral; Chaparral Lite; Wyoming
Crossroads – 5th wheel models: CrossForce (toy hauler); CrossTerrain (toy hauler); Cruiser; Kingston; Seville; Zinger
DRV (formerly Double Tree RV) models: Elite Suites; Mobile Suites; Select Suites
Dutchmen – models: Colorado; Denali; Dutchmen; Four Winds; Grand Junction; Monte Vista; North Shore; Victory Lane (toy hauler); Wild Thing (toy hauler); Winners Circle (toy hauler)
Dynamax – model: Dyna Aire
Eclipse Recreational Vehicles Inc. – toy hauler models: Attitude; Stellar
EnduraMax LLC – toy hauler model: Wide Open
Entegra Coach – models: Alanté, Emblem
Excel Fifth Wheels – models: Classic; Limited; RT; Wild Cargo (toy hauler)
Extreme RVs – models: Companion; MegaLite; Monterey; Sportmaster
Frontier RV - models: Aspen, Tazor
Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. – models: Formula (toy hauler); GearBox; Prowler; Quantum; RedLine (toy hauler); Regal ; Terry; Terry LX; Wilderness
Forest River – models: Cardinal; Cedar Creek; Cherokee; Day Dreamer; Flagstaff; Rockwood; Salem; Salem Sport (toy hauler); Sandpiper; Sierra; Surveyor; V-Cross; Wildcat; Wildwood; Wildwood Sport (toy hauler); Wolf Pack (toy hauler); Work and Play (toy hauler/cargo carrier); XLR (toy hauler)
General Coach BC – models: Citation; Cosair
General Coach ON – models: Citation/Chateau
Glendale RV – model: Titanium Tour Edition; Titanium Pearl
Gulf Stream – models: Ameri-Lite; Canyon Trail Mid-Profile; Conquest; Firefly; G-Force (toy hauler); Innsbruck; Kingsport; Mako Mid-Profile; Prairie Schooner; Yellowstone
Heartland – models: Big Country; Bighorn; Cyclone (toy hauler); Landmark; North Trail; Razor (toy hauler); Sundance; Sundance XLT
Holiday Rambler – models: Alumascape; Alumascape Suite; Next Level (toy hauler); Presidential Suite; Savoy LX; Savoy LE
Jayco – models: Designer, Eagle; Eagle Super Lite, Recon ZX (toy hauler)
KZ Recreational Vehicles (KZ RV) – models: Durango; Durango LX; Escalade; Escalade Sportster; Inferno (toy hauler); Montego Bay; New Vision Sportster (toy hauler); Sportsmen; Sportsmen Sportster (toy hauler); Spree
Keystone RVs – models: Big Sky; Challenger; Copper Canyon; Cougar; Everest; Fuzion (toy hauler); Hornet; Laredo; Montana; Mountaineer; Raptor (incl. toy hauler models); Springdale; Springdale Springloaded (toy hauler); Sydney; Xlite
Komfort RV – model: Komfort
McKenzie RV – models: Medallion Estate; Cascade; Dune Chaser; Lakota; Lakota Estate; Starwood
New Horizons – (factory direct) models: Classic; Summit; Motomover (toy hauler); 5 Star Series
Newmar Corp – models: Cypress; Torrey Pine; Kountry Aire; X-Aire
Northwood Manufacturing – models: Arctic Fox; Nash
NuWa Industries – models: Hitchhiker II LS; Hitchhiker Champagne; Hitchhiker Discover America
Okanagan – model: Eclipse
Palomino RV – models: Puma; Sabre; Thoroughbred
Pilgrim International, Inc. models: Cirrus Ultra Lite; Pilgrim 1500; Pilgrim 2500; Legends MP; Legends HP; Open Road
Play-Mor Trailers, Inc. toy-hauler models: Motorsport; Motorsport Deluxe FW; Racer; Sport LX; Sport-Maxx
Recreation by Design – Designing custom-built recreational vehicles is our business. (formerly American Travel System)
R-Vision – models: Dodge; Trail-Sport
Skyline RVs – modes: Aljo; Layton; Nomad; Weekender
Space Craft Mfg. – Custom Built
Starcraft - models: Homestead; Lexion
Sun Valley – models: Rattler (toy hauler); Roadrunner; Roadrunner 7.5; X-Treme 7.5; X-Treme 8.0
SunnyBrook - models: Big Dog (toy hauler); Bristol Bay; Brookside; SB Series; Titan SURV (toy hauler), West Pointe
Teton Homes – models: Experience; Prestige; Royal
Thor California – models: Jazz; Summit; Tahoe (toy hauler); Vortex (toy hauler), Wave
Triple E RVs – model: Topaz
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